The Big Bird Cage (1972)

Grand Slammer

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

After the success of The Big Doll House, writer/director Jack Hill and star Pam Grier teamed up for another filmed-in-the-Phillippines women-in-prison movie. (The big bird cage of the title is literally a huge bamboo cage.) A society girl (Anitra Ford) is snatched during a nightclub shootout and thrown in prison. Grier stars as "Blossom," a mercenary, who plans a prison break with her boyfriend Django (Sid Haig). Going for a slightly lighter tone than on the earlier film, Hill provides all kinds of grindhouse thrills, keeps up the pace, and imbues everything with an infectious glee.